Pronouns are used to substitute for nouns. They are words like "I", "you", "he", "they", "anybody", "who", and many more. They are not a requirement of a sentence, and it is possible for them never to be used in sentences. However, they are useful because they help avoid repeating the same noun over and over again; and they make it easier for a sentence to be understood. For an example without using any pronouns, see this sentence:

Alistair is doing what Alistair thinks is best for Alistair's rights as a human being.

Because it repeats "Alistair" so much it seems strange and tedious. A more usual way to say the above, using pronouns, would be:

Alistair is doing what he thinks is best for his rights as a human being.

Relative pronouns - used after another substansive to add additional information, like Modern English "who" in "John is the person who I like"

Demonstrative pronouns - words used often when pointing to something, with with a sense of location, as in Modern English "this" or "that"

Indefinite pronouns - used to talk about nobody in particular, or about everyone in general, like Modern English "anybody" and "everybody". Also includes negative pronouns - pronouns used to talk about "nobody" or "nothing".

Like nouns and adjectives, pronouns are declined according to case, gender (only sometimes), and number.

First person pronouns are pronouns that refer to the speaker (in singular), or the speaker and other people (in dual and plural), like Modern English "I" and "we".

Case

Singular

Dual

Plural

Nominative

iċ

ƿit

ƿē

Accusative

meċ, mē (in later OE)

uncit, unc

ūsiċ, ūs

Genitive

mīn

uncer

ūser, ūre

Dative

mē

unc

ūs

Notice that there is a dual number; it means "both" or "two" as in "we both" or "we two". The separate dual number is exceptional and rare. If used with an adjective or a verb, it should take the same declensions and conjugations as plural. Since there is a dual number for each set of pronouns, the plural form should only be used for three or more.

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask questions of identity, such as Modern English "who" and "what" as in "Who are you?" and "What is that animal?" The following are Old English interrogative pronouns:

"Hƿā" - "who"

Case

Sg. and pl.

Nominative

hƿā

Accusative

hƿone

Genitive

hƿæs

Dative

hƿǣm, hƿām

"Hƿæt" - "what"

Case

Sg. and pl.

Nominative

hƿæt

Accusative

Genitive

hƿæs

Dative

hƿǣm, hƿām

Instrumental

hƿȳ

The instrumental form of "hƿæt" (hƿȳ) is used to mean "why". Also used for "why" is for hƿȳ.

In Old English, they had a word meaning "which of two" as might be used in "Which of the two children went with you?", declined the same as the strong adjective declension.

The following word is also used as an interrogative adjective, like Modern English "which" as in "Which fruit did you eat?" Used standalone as a pronoun, though, it means "which one". Because it is an adjective, it also simply takes the strong adjectival declension.

"The house which I live in is old" - Þæt hūs in þǣm þe iċ ƿunie is eald

In Old English, the relative pronoun was the same as the definitive article, but it could be followed in addition by þe. You could also use just þe by itself.

"Se (þe)" - "who, which, that"

Case

Masculine

Neuter

Feminine

Plural all genders

Nominative

se (þe)

þæt (þe)

sēo (þe)

þā (þe)

Accusative

þone (þe)

þā (þe)

Genitive

þæs (þe)

þǣre (þe)

þāra (þe)

Dative

þǣm (þe), þām (þe)

þǣre (þe)

þǣm (þe), þām (þe)

Note that because se by itself could also mean "that (one", alongside this relative pronoun meaning; and þe alone could be a relative pronoun, se þe could actually be just a relative pronoun, or a relative pronoun and an indicative pronoun combined, e.g. "that which" or "he who".

A kind of word which in Modern English could be confused with a relative pronoun, is an indirect interrogative. The bold words in the following examples are indirect interrogatives:

"I asked him what he was doing"

"Do you know who they are?"

As in Modern English, the indirect interrogative pronouns in Old English were the same as the normal interrogative pronouns, for which see the "Interrogative pronouns" section of this page.

Demonstrative pronouns are the kind of pronoun you might use while pointing at something, often having also a sense of location, as in Modern English "this" and "that", where "this" has a meaning like "the one here" and that has a meaning like "the one there".

"Þes" - "this"

Case

Singular

Plural

Masculine

Neuter

Feminine

All genders

Nominative

þes

þis

þēos

þās

Accusative

þisne

þās

Genitive

þisses

þisse, þisre

þissa, þisra

Dative

þissum

þisse, þisre

þissum

Instrumental

þȳs

-

-

The plural of þes (þās) has the meaning of "these".

"Se" - "that"

Case

Singular

Plural

Masculine

Neuter

Feminine

All genders

Nominative

se

þæt

sēo

þā

Accusative

þone

þā

Genitive

þæs

þǣre

þāra

Dative

þǣm, þām

Instrumental

þȳs

-

-

It is obvious to see that the Modern English word "that" came from the neuter form of this word - þæt. This word was also the definitive article (like Modern English "the") in Old English, so if it was used to modify a noun, it might either mean "the" or "that", depending on context.